The Fool of Zero
by AcedPrime
Summary: Louise "The Zero" found that she had summoned an... unusual commoner for a familiar. A commoner who doesn't quite understand her language. Oh dear. Contains spoilers for P3P, P3FES and P4. First two chapters changed slightly. New chapter finally up!
1. New Game Plus

Author's note: … Well, hiya folks! I highly doubt that people read these blurbs, but for those who do (all one of you!), I might as well apologize for my totally unexpected absence. The first chapter has been changed (particularly regarding the Velvet Room scene) so that a certain tarot reading scene doesn't exist. It occurs to me that I probably shouldn't shove a reading in when I have no idea how to word them properly.

Oh, and I should probably re-iterate that this will contain *~**SPOILERS**~* for the 'True endings' of Persona 3 FES, P3P and Persona 4 only (considering the fact that a certain fighting game spin-off still hasn't reached this part of the world…) while probably following some events of the Zero no Tsukaima light novel series (they are likely to diverge as I have an _atrocious_ memory). You have been warned.

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><p>5:45PM, March 20, 2012. On this particular afternoon, in the quiet town of Yasoinaba, a group of friends return from their adventure in a bizarre parallel world (found inside television sets, no less), each of them exhausted, but equally proud of their teammates and themselves for having Saved the World From Destruction. The friends are especially proud of the one they look up to as their leader: the oddly gray-haired Yu Narukami, who bravely faced off against the Shinto Goddess of Creation and Death… <strong>and won<strong>. For a brief moment, the entire world was at peace.

This is not his story.

Saito Hiraga is seventeen years of age and in his second year of high school.

Athletic ability: normal. Grades: average. Duration without a girlfriend: seventeen years. Overall: no positives or negatives. At the same time as Yu's return from the TV World, Saito is happily walking down a bustling street in Tokyo, Japan, clutching his prize: a repaired laptop computer. He is on his way home, where he thinks to himself that he can finally get a girlfriend with the help of the dating website he signed up to.

This is also not his story.

Instead, our story takes place somewhere at the ends of the world, where a golden door of gargantuan proportions stand. Chained to the centre of this door is our hero of this story: the young man who selflessly died for our sins and conquered Death itself, only to triumphantly return on the third day as foretold by the-

… Oh wait, wrong Messianic figure. Ahem.

_This_ Messianic figure gave his life to prevent the meeting between the embodiment of the world's sorrow and the personification of death. It is believed that even the mere contact between the two entities would cause the destruction of the world.

It was during that aforementioned moment of peace caused by the Wild Card in Yasoinaba that two particular figures were able to change the fate of this young man-turned statue.

That statue's name… is Minato Arisato.

This is his story.

_(Scene Break!)_

When Minato had resolved to save the world from Nyx by becoming the Great Seal between destruction and humanity's desires for it, he expected his imprisonment to last for quite some time – perhaps a millennium or two, if not for eternity.

He did _not_ expect it to only last for less than two years. Blue eyes met yellow as Minato stared at his savior in equal parts of awe and disbelief.

"Elizabeth… how…?"

The Velvet Room attendant smiled gently as she responded. "Your successor had enacted a miracle. Much like in your case, his bonds with his friends created a force powerful enough to overcome a Goddess of the Underworld. In that short moment of peace after the battle, I was able to replace your soul for another willing to take your place."

"Willing to take my… you don't mean…" Frantically, he turned his gaze towards where he once stood as the seal…

… Only to see a statue resembling his once friend-turned Harbinger of Death entwined with chains in the same manner as he once did. After a moment of silence, Elizabeth spoke. "It appears that your friend being sealed into you affected more than his outlook in humanity. His bond with your soul allowed him to possess the power necessary to act as the Great Seal."

Minato quietly muttered to himself in disbelief as he placed his palm on his face. "The 'Appriser of Nyx' is now acting as the seal to prevent Her arrival to Earth. This… this is ironic, isn't it?"

Elizabeth chuckled in response, before continuing on with her explanation. "There was a small price for this switch… one being the gift of ultimate power I had once given you for fulfilling my request." Upon checking his belongings, Minato noticed that Elizabeth was correct – the Omnipotent Orb, once warm and faintly glowing with protective power had lost its warmth and glowing sheen. He slowly traced the large crack that ran along the orb before pocketing it once more.

"Does this mean that I can go back to Tatsumi Port Island? Back to where my friends are?"

He briefly closed his eyes as he remembered the voice of the one he particularly wanted to see.

"_Give him strength! Take my life if you must!"_

"_Come what may… We'll always be together."_

Elizabeth gave him a small smile. "Perhaps. My Master should know the answer to your queries. Now, shall we return to the Velvet Room?" She indicated to the faintly glowing blue door that Minato was certain did _not_ exist mere moments before. He nodded and moved to follow her through the door, but not before giving one last look at the new Great Seal and smiling in gratitude.

'_I don't know if you'll be able to hear this, but thanks, Ryoji.'_

_(Scene Break!)_

The Velvet Room had changed since Minato's last visit. No longer was it an ever ascending elevator, nor did it look like the interior of a limousine (Minato blinked in confusion. A limousine? Where did _that_ come from?). Instead, it had transformed into what he could only describe as a classy jazz bar. To his left he saw a silver haired man calmly polishing away at a glass tumbler behind the counter of the bar.

Close to the bar a familiar long-nosed hunchbacked man with bloodshot eyes was seated at a table, while Elizabeth and another silver haired woman who Minato recognized as Margaret stood beside him. As he approached the old man grinned toothily and gestured for him to sit down.

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room, my esteemed guest. I must say, I commend you for your integrity to uphold your end of the contract… and congratulate you and Elizabeth for succeeding at changing your destiny. Ah, but where are my manners… allow me to introduce to you the other residents of the Velvet Room. This is my other assistant, Margaret... Although it appears that you two already know each other." The one called Margaret gave a small smile as she replied.

"We met in the Desert of Doors." Minato nodded in response.

"The one tending the bar is yet another one of my assistants, Theodore." The silver haired man politely dipped his head in acknowledgement before resuming his task. "Well then… I assume you have come here to discuss what you plan to do from now onwards." Once more, the teen nodded in the affirmative.

"Will I be able to return to Tatsumi Port Island?"

"Unfortunately, not at this current moment in time," replied Igor. "You are aware that right now, your physical body is nothing but an empty vessel. However, due to your… unusual condition as the Seal, the vessel itself has been almost perfectly preserved, waiting for your return." At these words one of Minato's eyebrows raised in question.

"… Almost?"

"While your muscles and flesh may not have decayed from death nor atrophied due to disuse, your body was not immune to the effects of time… In essence, your current body is that of a nineteen year old human rather than seventeen. It was fortunate that Elizabeth had managed to save you in this era."

That… wasn't too bad a deal. "What's the catch?" Somehow, Igor's toothy smile managed to grow even wider.

"You will not be able to stay in your body for long if you stay in that world… new unbreakable bonds must be created in another so that your soul is able to properly anchor itself back in your body." Minato stared blankly at him, as if thinking that the grinning old man had finally lost his sanity.

"_What."_

"I assure you, this is not a joke. You must enter another world and develop your social links… With the exception of certain arcana – 'The Fool', 'Death', 'Judgment' and 'The World', you are to forge new bonds associated with the remaining ones… Of course, you can choose not to do so and instead re-enter the cycle of reincarnation in the following months." The blue-haired young man quietly groaned as he rubbed his temples in order to relieve the headache that was beginning to form.

"You already know my answer to that. It's just… This just sounds like a poorly-contrived excuse for me to go to another world. How will I be able to get to this other world, then? For another matter, how will I be able to come back?" Igor chuckled in response.

"You will know in due time… as for the matter of coming back…" The old man snapped his fingers and a familiar red booklet appeared. Minato did not need to open it to know what it said.

_I chooseth this fate of mine own free will._

_- Arisato Minato._

"As you have decided to continue to uphold your end of the contract, you are always welcome in the Velvet Room. When you have completed your social links and are ready to return to your original world, you only need to ask."

"One more question. Will I be able to summon my Persona in this other world?"

Igor grinned. "But of course, dear boy. Now then, I shall send you back to your world. Until we meet again, my esteemed guest…"

The room slowly faded as the blue haired youth lost consciousness.

_(Scene Break!)_

10:50PM, March 20, 2012. Inside the private Kirijo-owned clinic in Tatsumi Port Island, Doctor Tomoe Ishikawa yawned as she stretched to get rid of the kinks in her body. Idly, she stared at the clock on the wall. Ten more minutes, and her shift would finally be over. Like most days she found her thoughts drifting towards the corpse that she had found herself attending to for almost two years.

It was a very unusual case – a casual observer would think that the handsome young man occupying the bed in room 103 was merely sleeping, and indeed even some of the doctor's staff had commented to her that it was strange for him to be in the clinic instead of a hospital as a long-term coma patient. It was hard not to see why: the corpse was so well-preserved that it appeared as if it had not aged a day since the patient's death, and all of its organs remained perfectly functional…

… If it wasn't for the fact that they _weren't _doing so, no matter what she or her colleagues had attempted to do to get them going again.

It was only due to its strange nature that the current chairman of the Kirijo group had insisted that the body be stored here and kept watch for any signs of change.

It was also rumored that the deceased patient and the chairman used to be lovers. Perhaps the chairman still held a faint hope for the corpse to suddenly come to life. Tomoe snorted. As if something so stupid like _that_ could ever-

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden loud thump, followed by a steady stream of muffled curses in the direction of where the subject of her thoughts rested. Or rather, _had._ "It… It was just the wind," she muttered to herself as she cautiously approached room 103, scalpel grasped tightly in her hands, "A wind… that apparently knows how to swear and can read my mind _oh God I am going to be killed by a mind-reading zombie._"

Tomoe paused, and then shook her head. Now wasn't the time to panic. She was a _doctor_, for goodness sake! A _professional_!

"A-and besides," she muttered, "The dead can't come back to life."

Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened the door…

To see the (former) corpse sitting upright on the floor, using the bed for support with one hand while rubbing his arm with the other, still quietly talking to himself.

"… Forgot that hospital beds have side rails…" Seeing that he was no longer alone, the (former) corpse looked up at Tomoe, who froze in surprise. He gave her a charming smile, as if he _didn't _somehow just re-animate himself and cursed like a sailor mere moments before. "I don't suppose you happen to know someone named Mitsuru Kirijo, would you? Or at least know someone who could contact her? I need to tell her that I'm back."

The scalpel fell with a clatter as Tomoe continued to stare wide-eyed. Minato paused, before briefly looking down over his current attire.

"… Do you also happen to have a change of clothes? These hospital gowns are quite breezy."

The doctor could only respond by nodding dumbly and turned around to find the nearest phone.

Twenty minutes later, the two heard the familiar roar of a motorcycle grow louder until it screeched to a halt, followed by the rapid clacks of high heeled boots and another pair of footsteps that Tomoe could not recognize approaching the room. The first to enter was a beautiful blond haired woman, who smiled at the young man next to the doctor as tears streamed down her cheeks. The young man, who had introduced himself as Minato, gently smiled back at her.

"You have returned…"

"Hello, Aigis-san. It's been a while."

No sooner had he finished his sentence did the second visitor, who Tomoe had recognized as the chairman of the Kirijo group herself, arrive; face flushed and breathing audibly from her haste to reach her destination. She made a visible effort to compose herself as Minato spoke again. "Hello… Mitsuru-senpai, I'm back."

The woman sighed, before crossing her arms and replying in an almost casual manner, "It seems you beat me to it… Welcome back, Minato-kun." She then abandoned all pretences and almost toppled the young man over with a tight hug.

Having seen enough, Tomoe decided to give the three their moment of privacy and quietly left the room.

_(Scene Break!)_

11:50PM, March 20, 2012. The red haired woman known as Mitsuru sighed in irritation as she began to massage her temples to relieve the headache that had begun to form and continued to grow as Minato explained his situation.

"So what you are saying… Is you are going to travel to another world, where you will form these 'Social Links' with others… And this is the only method for you to be able to fully return to life?"

Minato nodded.

"That… has to be one of the most poorly-conceived excuse I have ever heard for someone to set you off on another adventure. And you are _sure_ you can trust this Igor person?"

"He was the one who helped me develop my Persona. Plus, his assistant was the one who helped rescue me."

"I can also vouch for the trustworthiness of this man," said Aigis. "During the brief moment when I had Minato-san's powers, I also entered the Velvet Room." Minato turned to the blonde in surprise, before remembering the events of the previous year, when the constant brutal assault of Erebus had lessened. He then remembered something.

"Does one of you still have my Evoker? I want to test something out." Wordlessly, Aigis withdrew the silver gun from her person and handed it to him.

He calmly raised the gun to his head, and then pulled the trigger as he smirked and said one word.

"Persona."

A sound not dissimilar to shattering glass echoed in the room, and behind Minato floated a familiar white haired figure holding a lyre.

"_Thou art I… and I am thou. From the sea of thy soul I have returned. I am Orpheus, master of strings…"_

The entity briefly shimmered before fading away to settle back into Minato's mind. Evidently, he was still able to summon Personae, like Igor had said.

"I'm glad that Thanatos didn't try to rip out of his skull this time around," he quipped dryly. Mitsuru winced at the memory of the night when he first summoned his Persona.

'_That happened only once,'_ grumbled a voice Minato recognized as belonging to the Greek god of death. _'And yet no one lets me live it down.'_

'_I am hardly surprised to hear that, son of Nyx,' _replied Orpheus,_ 'I am still yet to forgive you for taking my wife away.'_

'_It wasn't __**my**__ fault you chose to ignore Lord Hades' order and turned around before you reached the surface.'_

'_And had you not chosen on a whim to take my beloved Eurydice away, I would not have needed to enter the Underworld in the first place.'_

'_Why don't you just take that little harp of yours and shove it up your-'_

"… And it seems that the voices in my head are back," groaned Minato as he brought his hand to his face.

Having experienced the same thing during her brief stint as the Wild Card, Aigis could sympathize with Minato completely.

It was then, when out of the corner of his eye he noticed a strange green ovaloid shimmering next to where Mitsuru and Aigis stood.

"Would I be right in assuming that you two don't see that floating mirror-like thing next to you?" Mitsuru gave a small start in surprise and turned left and right only to see nothing out of the ordinary. Aigis tilted her head in confusion. Minato shook his head.

"Never mind… I guess it's time for me to go." With no small amount of trepidation, he approached the portal. In panic, Mitsuru tried to reach out to her lover.

"Wait! Y-you're leaving? So soon?" Minato nodded and gave her a gentle smile, before wrapping his arms around her.

"Yeah. Will you wait for me?"

"O-of course. I told you last year… that I have no intention of letting you go, did I not?"

He chuckled in response. "Thank you." Letting go of Mitsuru, he turned his attention to the portal once again. "Aigis-san, please continue to take care of Mitsuru-senpai and my friends for me." Seeing her nod in assent he resumed his approach to the portal.

"Minato…"

He paused to turn back to Mitsuru. She stared into his eyes before smiling sweetly.

"If I ever find out that you have been cheating on me in this other world… You will be **executed**. Do I make myself clear?"

"…"

"… Well?"

"… Yeah. Well then, I'm off." He waved, before disappearing from sight as he entered the portal.

"W-wait! What was with that lackluster response? Be more serious about this, Arisato-kun! And take care of yourself!"

12 AM, March 21, 2012. The former Great Seal known as Minato Arisato had left planet Earth and arrived in the magical continent of Halkeginia.


	2. Please Select Language

Author's Note: Much of this chapter has been left unchanged, apart from the removal of some English translations. The story's in Minato's perspective, after all. For those of you who want to know what Louise and Colbert are saying, Google Translate is your friend (That, or scroll down.)

Formatting:

"Example" - Regular dialogue. Understandable to both speaking parties.

_'Example'_ - Thinking. Also the way Personae talk to Minato.

_« Example _» - Dialogue that the speaker understands but not necessarily the recipient. (French)

「Example」 - Dialogue that the speaker understands but not necessarily the recipient. (Japanese)

Some of the French dialogue may have been shamelessly borrowed from the translated novels over at Baka-Tsuki. Give 'em a look if you're bored!

**Important: I'm also kinda under the assumption that everyone can see the different speech marks (ie. the Guillemets and the CJK bracket-quotes). Let me know if they don't show up****. Thanks~**

* * *

><p>The first thought that had occurred to Minato was that blindly stepping through a mysterious portal – a mysterious portal that had the potential to land him <em>anywhere<em> in a different planet – was not exactly the cleverest of ideas he had thought of… at least not without being prepared for anything. It was almost on par with that one time he thought that putting hot sauce in coffee would be a good idea.

It wasn't.

He had reasoned to himself at the time that he liked coffee as well as spicy things in general. He had also briefly skimmed through the internet to find that recipes for 'Spicy Coffee' _did,_ in fact, actually exist. However, to his dismay Fuuka had been experimenting with her cooking again and the dorm had run out of chili powder. Then he saw the bottle of hot sauce and the spice rack innocently sitting in the kitchen cupboard…

It had taken him many, _many_ cans of Cylon Tea and Dr. Salt to get rid of the horrible taste. Yukari and Junpei had occasionally teased him afterwards about the dreaded 'Hot Coffee incident', and even _Fuuka_ had once joked to Minato that her dishes were never as bad as that.

A simple utterance of the words "Soufflé recipe" had silenced her immediately.

The second thought that had occurred to Minato was that the ground was not the most comfortable of landing places when one is unceremoniously being hurtled through the air, as his face had the first-hand opportunity to discover. Cautiously, he removed his face from the ground and sat up in an upright fashion, then winced when he felt another headache beginning to form. Ignoring it for the moment, he tried to re-orient himself with his surroundings.

He was in the middle of what appeared to be a large field, surrounded by a small crowd of people all wearing black cloaks. The one closest to him and staring at him in equal parts of shock and curiosity was a delicate-looking little girl with long hair in a shade not unlike the one seen in cherry blossoms. She was also wearing a black cloak and carried a thin wooden baton. Her pale skin and short stature reminded Minato of an antique European doll he had seen more than once in the Shinshoudo Antiques store. Shock turned to disdain as the doll-like figure addressed him.

_« Qui es-tu ? »_

The third thought that had occurred to Minato as he stared back at the newcomer's reddish-brown eyes studying him intently was that perhaps he should not have expected that the residents of this other world could speak the same language as him. After all, Japanese was not so widely spoken outside of its native country like English (or in this case, French).

Idly, Minato noted that his odd situation must have been alike to how his old friend Bebe had felt when he entered Japan for the first time – surrounded by foreigners in an alien land who couldn't speak the same language as him.

The only Personae he currently possessed were Orpheus and Thanatos. Seeing as they were Greek mythological figures, unless the two suddenly gained understanding of the French language he considered them to be utterly useless in this situation.

'_Gee, thanks.'_

'_I would like to point out that music has been considered the universal language throughout the ages… although in this case I shall admit that it appears to be of little use to us here.'_

Minato quietly thanked his enthusiastic foreign exchange student friend (wherever he was now) for teaching him a few phrases in his language before he returned to live with his uncle. He then stood up and in true Japanese gentlemanly fashion bowed politely to the petite lady in front of him.

_« Je m'appelle Minato. C'est un plaisir de vous rencontrer. »__  
><em>_(My name is Minato. It is a pleasure to meet you.)_

The girl in front of him continued to stare at him with the strange mixture of curiosity and disgust before asking her next question.

_« D'où viens-tu, Roturier ? »_

… And now he was completely lost as to what she said. Hastily, Minato tried to remember what Bebe had advised him to say when in this type of situation.

« 「Etto… Sumimasen.」_ Malheureusement, je ne comprends pas. Parlez-vous… _「Etto… Sono…」»  
><em>(Um… <em>_Sorry. Unfortunately, I do not understand. Do you speak… Um… That is…)_

Crap. He had forgotten what the French equivalent of 'Japanese' was.

He decided to improvise by using his high levels of **intelligence** and **charm**.

… And by that, he meant that he was just going to wing it while smiling disarmingly at her.

_« … Parlez vous _「Nihongo?」 »  
><em>(Do you speak 'Japanese'?)<em>

_« Quoi ? 'Nihongo' ? Qu'est-ce que c'est ? » _The young girl responded with a glare. _«Une nouvelle forme de langage roturier ? »_

She pulled the lapels of his coat until Minato's head reached her height and repeated her earlier question slowly. _« Je vais demander une fois de plus. D'où. Viens-tu. __Roturier ? »__  
><em>

Minato sighed as he palmed his face. This conversation was going nowhere. Around him, the small crowd began to murmur to one another, snickering at the girl in front of him.

_« Louise, qu'est-ce que tu essayes de faire, en appelant un roturier inculte avec ton 'Invocation de Serviteur' ? » _someone in the crowd asked her, before the snickering had erupted into full-blown laughter.

_« J'ai… J'ai juste fait une petite erreur ! Monsieur Colbert ! S'il vous plait ! __Laissez-moi essayer l'invocation une nouvelle fois ! »_

Flustered, the girl (Louise, was it?) turned towards the only kindly looking middle-aged man in the crowd and began to speak rapidly to him, gesturing to Minato as if he was some sort of insignificant piece of garbage. Feeling sufficiently ignored, he dusted himself off before making a more thorough check of his surroundings.

The first thing he realized was that it was no longer midnight, meaning that either he had passed out on the field for at least several hours or there was a time difference between his world and this one (Although, a concussion _would_ explain the headache he was currently experiencing…).

The next thing he noticed that was out of the ordinary was the European-styled castle that stood in the distance. The teenagers surrounding him looked like they were regular high school students. Their uniform code seemed to consist of a white blouse and gray pleated skirt for the girls, while the boys wore plain white button down shirts and gray slacks. Both genders wore this under a large black cloak with a golden disc emblazoned with a star. Each of them carried what appeared to be wooden batons or staves.

It vaguely reminded him of a children's fantasy book he had once read about a strange kid with a scar on his head going to a magical school to be a magician, or something along those lines.

After a while, it appeared that the conversation between the girl and her teacher(?) was finished. Once again she approached him with obvious distaste and addressed him.

_« Tu dois être reconnaissant. Normalement tu devrais vivre toute ta vie sans que quelque chose comme ça soit réalisé par un noble. »_

「… Excuse me?」

The girl closed her eyes and began to chant as she waved her baton.

_« Mon nom est Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. Pentagone des Cinq Puissances Elémentaires, consacre cette humble créature et fais de lui mon familier. »__  
><em>

She chanted the same words over and over, then lightly tapped Minato's forehead with the stick. Her lips then drew closer towards him. He immediately broke out in cold sweat when he remembered the last words his girlfriend had said before he left.

'_If I ever find out that you have been cheating on me in this other world… You will be __**executed.**__'_

_« Juste reste immobile, » _the girl said irritably when she saw him squirm and shy away, and drew even closer._  
><em>

「Eh?! W-wait a second! I… I already have a girlfriend, so…」

_« Ah, bon sang! » _Louise huffed in irritation as she held his face still with her left hand, « _Je t'ai dit de rester immobile! »  
><em>

Minato froze as the girl's lips met his. His Personae decided that now would be an excellent time to add in their own commentary while their host's brain had all but shut down on itself.

'_Her lips are pretty soft. Kinda like the ones you kissed with the one you left back home,'_ said Thanatos in a conversational tone._ 'Speaking of which, how's that lovely ladyfriend of yours going to know you've been cheatin' on her, anyway?'_

'_The Thanatos I knew used to be indifferent to most outside matters and more… eloquent than this current incarnation…' _Orpheus mused, before adding his own opinion in the matter, _'… And keep quiet, son of Nyx; your words clearly indicate that you have never been with a loved one before. Women… They __**know.**__'_

Thanatos gave a mental shrug. _'Actually, as a matter of fact—'_

'_A loved one __**other**__ than family,'_ snapped Orpheus. _'But there is no need to worry ourselves. There is a good chance that is merely a ritualistic act. She is clearly reluctant to do this, and her actions seem almost rehearsed, in a way.' _He paused, before adding,_ 'Although… she __**does**__ seem to be taking her time…'_

After a moment, Louise drew back. Blushing, she quietly said two words.

_« C'est fait. »  
><em>

**...?!**

A shattering noise echoed in Minato's mind. The image of a tower loomed ominously above him as he heard a mysterious voice gently whisper to him.

'_**Thou art I… And I am thou.  
>Thou hast established a new bond…<br>Thou shalt once again have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Tower Arcana…'**_

He had found his first social link.

Suddenly, Minato's body began to heat up and he gave a small grunt in discomfort. It didn't feel too bad – the pain was better than being hit by a weak Agi spell, but the pain in his head grew worse. The burning sensation faded as quickly as it came, and the balding middle aged man checked the back of his left palm. Unrecognizable runes seemed to jump out at him.

_« Ce sont des Runes vraiment inhabituelles,» _the man muttered to himself. _« C'est bizarre... »__  
><em>

At this point, the dull ache that Minato was experiencing in his head intensified to sharp agony. He was beginning to see white. This… Usually never happened when he established a social link…

For possibly the second time that day, he drifted into unconsciousness. The last thing he remembered seeing was the look of surprised concern on the strawberry-blonde's face and a vague thought to summon a Persona who could understand French.

_(Scene Break!)_

Minato shook his head to reorient himself. He found himself sitting face to face with the reliable, yet possibly insane old resident of the Velvet Room. To his left and right stood his assistants Elizabeth and Margaret respectively. In the distance he could hear the soft tune of a piano being played and a woman singing the familiar comforting song he constantly heard whenever he entered this room.

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room," said Igor, hands intertwined with each other and a toothy grin on his face. "You must be wondering why I have brought you here."

Minato nodded.

"Like the previous time I have summoned you here, it is because I sense some changes within you… First, because of your most… _unusual_ status, it seems that you are currently restricted from summoning some of your strongest Persona until you develop your social links… On the other hand, the bonds you will newly establish in this world will enable you to summon Personas you have never seen before. Some of these include ones that your successor had used… Please keep this in mind." He gestured to the woman on his left. "Now… For the second reason I brought you here, I understand that you wish to regain some of your powers."

Minato began to nod, before he paused when he had realized something.

"I… don't have any money on me right now," he admitted, "When I came back to life, I lost most of my belongings. In fact, I'm not actually sure how I would be able to pay for future transactions at this point…"

"Ah, there is no need to worry about that," interrupted Elizabeth with a small giggle, "The money and equipment you had accumulated over your journey had been… _'Carried over', _if you will… here to the Velvet Room. The combined assets are just enough to allow you to access the compendium free of charge for as long as you require our services."

"Considering how much you charged me sometimes for **one** Persona alone, I don't even want to know how much all that came to," Minato replied with a shake of his head, "In that case, let me start by summoning someone who can understand other languages…"

What Elizabeth had neglected to mention to Minato was that after the events of March 31 the previous year, she, along with her brother Theodore, had secretly entered the dormitory building and… _appropriated _every single piece of weaponry and armor inside and sold every last piece.

The sword said to be held by Lucifer Himself had fetched a princely sum in the underworld market.

As for the money, she had managed to steal it from under Minato's nose during his very brief visit to the Velvet Room on the last night of January the previous year.

If asked why she could have done such a thing, Elizabeth might have answered that she only did that under the instruction of her Master. If pressed for details she might even have replied that it was to help renovate the Velvet Room twice over the course of two years.

The fact that she _might_ have had(?) kleptomaniac tendencies was completely irrelevant to the matter (After all, where _else_ would she have obtained the various summer and winter outfits of the SEES members to use as rewards for her requests?).

Nope. Absolutely no relation at all.

_(Scene Break!)_

By the time Minato had found himself back in his physical body, he was propped up against a wall in a modestly furnished small room. Judging from the way the room was illuminated through the two moons outside and the lamp nearby, it must have been evening. To his right was a bed. Sitting on top of it, still studying him while holding a piece of bread was the girl who had kissed him earlier in the day. He shuffled his Personae around until Forneus stood at the forefront of his mind before Louise had a chance to speak.

It is important to note here that Minato had made a discovery long ago about the benefits of keeping a Persona actively equipped. The most obvious one was that it augmented his physical abilities such as strength and agility. This was especially useful when it came to fighting shadows in the twisted tower of Tartarus.

The second obvious benefit was that keeping a Persona equipped also allowed him to use their magic. With a simple pull of a trigger, Minato could summon swift winds, frigid icicles, raging flames or mighty thunderbolts to lay waste at his enemies. Alternatively, he could heal wounds and bring back allies from the brink of death in a matter of seconds – providing that he had enough of what he referred to as "Spirit Points" which replenished itself after a night's rest or consuming specific types of items.

The third and fourth uses of equipped Personae, Minato had discovered, were both relatively unknown to the other Persona users and could only be used by himself and possibly Aigis. One was that only the active Persona was able to talk to his mind – a boon that only other Wild Card users with multiple Personae could understand.

The other was that he could utilize the skills and talent his Personae were famous for in legends. For example, with Orpheus equipped, Minato would be able to play stringed instruments with the grace and technique of a maestro; his songs being able to move even the stoniest of hearts (though having practiced the violin from a very young age, Minato saw no need to use Orpheus in this manner). The downside to this was that there was usually a drain on his Spirit Points to activate and continually maintain it; the strength of drainage depending on what skill he was using.

In this specific case, the thirtieth demon of the Goetia, Forneus, had been known for his mastery over all languages. Minato wasn't actually sure whether or not this was only restricted to verbal or human ones alone, but it was more than enough for what he needed. Fortunately, the SP drainage was minimal; he would be able to maintain it for slightly over sixteen hours in a day.

"You're finally awake, then," said Louise with a tinge of relief evident in her voice. "I've never heard of a familiar collapsing after a summoning spell before." Relief turned to frustration as she continued, "Then again, I've never heard of lowly commoners becoming familiars of mages in the first place either. Especially useless commoners who can't even understand what his superiors are saying!"

"Regarding that front, I found a temporary solution to that problem while I was unconscious," interrupted Minato, slightly irritated at her choice in words, "I can understand you perfectly right now. Judging from your expression, I take it you can understand me as well?"

Stunned at her familiar's newfound proficiency, Louise could only nod in reply. Minato nodded back in satisfaction.

"Good. We can finally get somewhere. As I had mentioned earlier in the day, my name is Minato Arisato. It is a pleasure to meet you." He politely bowed to her.

"Um… yes. Well. I can tell that you're no mere commoner," said Louise grudgingly, "I am Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. But you never answered my question - where did you come from, familiar?"

"From a small group of islands called 'Japan'. They are located in a different world from yours."

"Oh." She paused, then squawked in surprise as Minato's words sunk in. "Wait, **what?!**" He cheerfully continued as if he didn't hear her.

"Where is this place?"

"No, no, go back to what you just said! What did you mean by 'another world'?! I've never heard of familiars being summoned from a different world!"

"You have also pointed out that you have never heard of people becoming familiars in the first place either," replied Minato. "Let's just say I'm a bit… different. Anyway, where is this place? And what is a 'familiar'?"

"This is the Tristain Academy of Magic. All academy students, including myself, live in the dormitories here on school grounds. As for what a familiar is…" Louise stood up and pointed to Minato's left hand. He stared at the runes that had been inscribed on him as she began to explain.

"A familiar is usually a magical beast summoned by a mage and bound by contract to serve its master. They do this in a number of ways. First, a familiar is able to grant its master enhancement in vision and hearing. In most examples, this means that what the familiars see, the masters can see as well. But it seems that it doesn't work on your case. I can't see anything." She glared at Minato as if it was his fault. He shrugged non-committedly.

"The second thing is that familiars will retrieve things their master requires – reagents, for example." Minato cocked his head in confusion.

"Reagents?"

"Catalysts a mage might need for certain spells. Something like sulfur, or moss… But I'm sure you're useless in that respect as well."

Minato frowned at her casual dismissal of his abilities, but urged Louise to continue.

"And the most important task for a familiar…" Louise glared at him again before continuing, "The most important job for it to do is to protect its master! That's the reason why mages summon them in the first place! But where a powerful magical beast could almost always defeat its enemies, I don't even think you can beat a raven…" she paused when she noticed that Minato had started to laugh. "And just _**what **_is so funny about this?!"

"Nothing… It's just that you're completely wrong in that assumption," he replied, still chuckling. "I'll be a little rusty at first, but I've handled all sorts of different types of weapons. I'm most confident with either one-handed or two-handed swords. Plus, I have a sort of back-up plan if none of those are available." He patted the left side of his jacket with his right hand.

Louise, however, remained entirely unconvinced of his self-assessment. She replied in a lofty tone, "Sure, sure. Then again, when you die from your stupidity, I'll be able to summon another familiar." She yawned before he had a chance to interrupt. "Right then, all this talk has made me sleepy."

Minato nodded in understanding, but eyed the piece of bread still in her hand. Come to think of it, he had not eaten in a very long while… "I don't suppose you would be so kind as to…"

Louise stared blankly at her hand still clutching the bread as if just realizing it was there. "What? Oh! Yes, I suppose I could give it to you." He gratefully accepted the food and tore through it as she continued, "But don't misunderstand, commoner; I'm only doing this because I've lost my appetite and I don't like to waste food. After your meal, I expect you to do the laundry before you can sleep on the floor." She tossed some clothes and a thin blanket in his general direction, then undid one of the buttons on her blouse. And another.

Minato froze just as he was about to finish his meal. He blinked in disbelief, before uttering a word that neatly summed up his thoughts on the situation.

"_What._"

"I'm going to sleep, so I'm getting changed," replied Louise airily, as if satisfied that _she_ was the one surprising him for once, "Of course, I expect you to wash these as well for tomorrow. As a familiar, it's your job to do as your master commands."

She continued to undress until she was down to her underwear. Immediately, Minato turned away. He distracted himself by consulting his equipped Persona on the situation.

'_She mentioned before that we are bound to her by contract. We are well aware of a contract's significance, and of the power that one holds,'_ said the Marquis of Hell, '_And I am no stranger to serving a mast-'_

"Oh, and these too," interrupted Louise. A lacy camisole and matching underwear drifted over Minato's head. With a snap of her fingers the lamp in the room extinguished.

'… _Although, I admit that Master Solomon used to treat us with a lot more respect than this. Had Duke Berith been summoned here as her servant instead of us, I doubt that there would be much of the child left by the time he was finished.'_

Minato sighed as he began to gather up the clothing strewn about. It then occurred to him that Louise had forgotten to tell him where he could go to get the clothes washed. He turned to face her and asked-

Only to find that the girl was already asleep. He gave another soft sigh in exasperation.

"At least I'll be able to take a look around this place.

* * *

><p>Translations for those too lazy to Google it:<p>

_« Qui es-tu ? » - _Who are you?

_« D'où viens-tu, Roturier ? » _- Where do you come from, commoner ?

_« Quoi ? 'Nihongo_'_ ? Qu'est-ce que c'est ? Une nouvelle forme de langage roturier ? » -_ What? 'Nihongo'? What is that, a new form of commoner language?

_« Je vais demander une fois de plus. D'où. Viens-tu. __Roturier ? » - _I will ask one more time. Where did you come from, commoner?_  
><em>_« Louise, qu'est-ce que tu essayes de faire, en appelant un roturier inculte avec ton 'Invocation de Serviteur' ? » __-_ Louise, what were you trying to do, calling an uncultured commoner with your 'Summon Servant'?

_« J'ai… J'ai juste fait une petite erreur ! Monsieur Colbert ! S'il vous plait ! Laissez-moi essayer l'invocation une nouvelle fois ! »_ - I… I just made a small mistake! Mister Colbert ! Please ! Let me try the summoning one more time !

_« Tu dois être reconnaissant. Normalement tu devrais vivre toute ta vie sans que quelque chose comme ça soit réalisé par un noble. »_ - You should feel grateful. Normally you'd live your life without a noble doing this to you.

_« Mon nom est Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. Pentagone des Cinq Puissances Elémentaires, consacre cette humble créature et fais de lui mon familier. » - _My name is Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers; bless this humble being, and make him my familiar._  
><em>_« Juste reste immobile. »_ - Just stay still.

_« Ah, bon sang! _ _Je t'ai dit de rester immobile! »_ - Ah, geez ! I told you to hold still!

_« C'est fait. »_ - It is done._  
><em>_« Ce sont des Runes vraiment inhabituelles. C'est bizarre... »_ - These are very unusual runes. How strange…

**(Repeating this here just in case): I'm also kinda under the assumption that everyone can see the different speech marks (ie. the Guillemets and the CJK bracket-quotes). Let me know if they don't show up****. Thanks~**


	3. A(n) (Un)Justified Tutorial on Magic

Author's note: To make up for the incredibly long wait, here's the longest chapter I've churned out in a while! Hopefully this time the next chapter won't take another year to update.

… I'm just jinxing myself now, aren't I?

Formatting:

"Example" - Regular dialogue. Understandable to both speaking parties.

_'Example'_ - Thinking. Also the way Personae talk to Minato.

_« Example _» - Dialogue that the speaker understands but not necessarily the recipient. (French)

「Example」 - Dialogue that the speaker understands but not necessarily the recipient. (Japanese)

**Important: I'm also kinda under the assumption that everyone can see the different speech marks (ie. the Guillemets and the CJK bracket-quotes). Let me know if they don't show up****. Thanks~**

* * *

><p>It was fortunate for Minato in that he did not need to get very far to find someone who could help him with his task. He had set off along the corridor that the girl's room had connected to; arms loaded with clothes and having absolutely no idea where to even begin when he heard a voice call out to him.<p>

"Excuse me… would you like some help with that?"

Behind Minato was a gentle-looking maid watching him in slight concern. He smiled disarmingly at her as he nodded in gratitude.

"Thank you. Would you happen to know where I could wash these? I need to have these cleaned by tomorrow."

"In that case, please follow me this way." As she turned to start walking, she paused as a sudden thought came to her. "Are you perhaps the one who became Miss Vallière's familiar…?"

Slightly puzzled at the question, Minato gave another nod in reply. "What gave it away?"

The maid indicated to the pile of clothing in his arms and giggled. He peered down to see that the camisole was peeking out of the pile.

Oh.

"Nobles never do their own laundry, especially with servants or commoners around," continued the maid with a shy smile. "You also look older than most of the students here, and I haven't seen you in the servants' quarters before. Is it true that you were summoned from somewhere far away? I have never seen such strange clothing…"

Minato gave himself a proper once-over for the first time since entering the world of the living.

The doctor from earlier had handed him a simple white t-shirt with black sleeves and a gray double-breasted jacket that closely resembled his old winter coat. It had the additional benefit of inner pockets, allowing him to use one of them as a concealed holster for his Evoker. Completing the ensemble was a pair of black jeans and some sneakers.

He was mildly pleased to discover that his 'death' did nothing to deter him from growing an additional inch or two. He also noted that his hair had grown longer, giving him a slightly more effeminate appearance.

"Um… Sir? Are you alright?"

Deciding that he had spaced out long enough, he answered, "Ah… yes. And to answer your other question, I came from a very distant place." Remembering the maid's choice in words regarding his social status, he gave a small frown before asking, "By the way, I noticed that you mentioned 'commoners' as well. What is the difference between a 'noble' and a 'commoner' here? Is it just a matter of riches, or something else?"

The maid stared at him oddly, "Oh? I thought that this was known throughout the countries… Nobles are called as such because they are able to use magic. Generally, thanks to this talent most noble families are naturally well off. Commoners like us can't use magic at all and because of that, we're usually looked down by the nobles." She paused, before finally remembering what she was supposed to be doing, "Oh! I forgot that I was supposed to show you where to do the laundry! Please follow me."

Within his mind, Forneus gave a small snort in disbelief as Minato quietly followed the maid.

_'**That** was the reason why our new Mistress treats us so poorly? Because she presumes that we cannot use magic?'_

_'Well… to be fair, she's half-right,' _pointed out Minato, _'I'd still need to summon you or the others if I wanted to use spells, and it's not as if the people here are ever going to need to shoot themselves in the head to do the same thing.'_

_'That may be so, but the Mistress is truly a naïve one if she merely judges others by appearance. Even a child such as she should have known that no ordinary humans can be summoned through magical means. The sheer amount of arrogance and foolishness I see in human nobility frightens even me sometimes…'_

_(Scene Break!)_

…?

Minato found that he was no longer resting on a hard stone floor. From the soothing song in the distance and the encompassing blue theme around him, he rightly guessed that he was yet again back in the Velvet Room. This time, however, Elizabeth was the only other resident in the room – Igor, Margaret and Theodore were nowhere to be seen.

Minato stared quizzically at Elizabeth. She raised an eyebrow in equal confusion.

"I didn't expect you to be back here so soon," she said, "Was there something else you required from the Velvet Room?"

"Er, no… To be honest, I was wondering if you knew how I managed to get here. Also, where did the rest of the residents go?"

"I'm not quite sure… Both my master and my siblings temporarily left the room for reasons of their own. However, my sister once told me that nothing happens without a reason… Perhaps this is fate." Elizabeth smiled. "Perhaps it was your subconscious desire for us to speak privately?"

He smiled back, "If that's the case, how about a chat, then? I still don't think I've thanked you enough for saving me."

"There's hardly a need for the praise," she waved off, "Your friend and your successor provided the necessary components for your revival, after all. On the day after your sacrifice, I promised myself that I was going to bring you back – no matter how long it would take. Moreover…"

Elizabeth turned away, a tinge of red evident on her pale cheeks.

"I truly am glad that you have returned, Ari-… no, Minato-san."

**...?!**

A shattering noise echoed in Minato's mind. The image of a wheel with an upright sword in the center appeared above him as he heard a mysterious voice gently whisper to him.

**_'Thou art I… And I am thou.  
>Thou hast established a new bond…<br>Thou shalt once again have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fortune Arcana…'_**

Minato relaxed the death-grip he had on the left side of his chest when he realized that the shattering noise was due to an establishment of a new social link rather than his expected heart attack. The sudden shyness of the former elevator attendant was more damaging to him than any attack she had dealt him from the one-on-one fight two years ago.

He raised an eyebrow as a sudden thought occurred to him.

"… I thought I was supposed to make social links in the other world?"

"My master specifically said that they needed to be established in _another_ world. The Velvet Room would fit this requirement, would it not?" replied Elizabeth, her golden eyes still not quite meeting his blue ones. She cleared her throat. "W-well, now that you seem to be settling into things, would you be willing to take up some of my requests again?"

"As long as it doesn't involve us trying to kill each other again, I'd be more than happy to."

Elizabeth giggled.

"Joking aside, my first request is for you to show me a talking sword. Will you accept?"

Minato sighed. "I was being serious… But sure, I accept."

"There is no deadline, but I suggest that you do not take too long to complete it. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

As he shook his head in the negative, Minato could already feel himself being gently pulled back to reality.

"Well then, I look forward to your next visit… Minato-san."

_(Scene Break!)_

Minato sluggishly rose from his resting place to glare at the stray beams of accursed sunshine that woke him up. It was a beautiful morning: not a cloud could be seen in the dazzling blue sky, and he could hear the cheery calls of various songbirds greeting each other. Normally, these songs would be soothing to him, refreshing and helping him prepare for the brilliant day ahead of him.

Today was not one of those mornings.

Small factors such as his body being unused to sudden movement, his crash landing into this world, time and effort spent in fusing Personae, washing Louise's laundry and the less than hospitable accommodations had left Minato feeling incredibly tired and a bit sick as a result. To his annoyance, it also appeared that his Spirit Points were not fully restored as a side effect, and the cacophony caused by the birds only served to worsen his mood.

He half-seriously considered whether or not it would be worth the SP drain to use Evil Smile in tandem with Ghastly Wail against the feathered pests. Or at least lightly singe them with a well-placed Agi spell (or three). He began to weigh in the pros and cons with such an idea, when some of his more outspoken Personae decided to add in their own thoughts.

_'I am completely on board with this plan,'_ said Thanatos, _'Any excuse for us to kill things is great in my book.'_

_'Hee ho! Sounds like fun! I especially like the bit about fire!' _Pyro Jack piped up.

_'I would recommend against this endeavor. It is both foolish and an utter waste of our magic,'_ said Orpheus.

_'Not to mention that doing so would be a gross misuse of our abilities,' _added Power disapprovingly.

Minato placed his palm onto his face as he groaned. _'It was a **joke**. I wasn't really planning to kill them.'_

_'Don't kid a kidder. We **are **aspects of your psyche, y'know,'_ muttered Thanatos.

With a small 'click', Forneus was equipped in his mind to quell the voices. Minato sighed in relief as peace was once again restored to his head.

_'Frankly, I am surprised to see that you were thinking so deeply on this matter in the first place.'_

_'Hush, you.'_

As he stretched to try to get rid of the kinks in his body, he wished that he had the foresight to ask the maid for some blankets to use as a makeshift futon.

Come to think of it, he never had the chance to ask for her name, nor did he even manage to properly thank her. After instructing him in the ways of washing clothes in the correct manner when he admitted that he had no idea how, the maid had excused herself to return to her duties when she was confident that he would be able to do the job.

Resolving to do so later if he saw her again, Minato then turned his attention to his master, who quietly snuffled in her sleep.

_'The first order of business would be to wake the mistress up. Considering that this is an Academy, I assume that she has classes to attend to,' _advised Forneus, before adding bitterly, _'Besides that, there is no doubt that she has yet even more pointless tasks to give for us today.'_

Minato sighed in agreement and gently shook Louise.

"Milady… It is morning. Please wake up."

Louise mumbled unintelligibly before lazily sitting up. She stared blankly at him for a moment, before she blearily shouted at him in confusion.

"Wai… Wait, who are you?!"

"Your familiar, Minato Arisato."

"Oh… Right. I summoned you yesterday, didn't I?" She yawned. "Clothes."

Minato handed her the freshly laundered uniform, then turned around as he saw that the girl began to undress.

"Underwear."

Hastily, he complied with her request without glancing. Once it was on, she murmured,

"Dress me."

"… Excuse me?"

"I said dress me, commoner. Nobles will not dress themselves if a servant is there."

Minato's eye began to twitch in irritation.

"Don't push your luck, _milady,_" he smiled charmingly to slightly offset the alarming amount of venom in his voice. Louise frowned.

"Right, then. For being a disrespectful familiar, I forbid you from having breakfast."

… Perhaps song birds were not the real pests in this world. Minato quietly cursed to himself for not bringing along a Persona who could silence her with a Makajam as he picked up his master's blouse.

Deep within his mind, Forneus could not help but laugh at their misfortune.

_(Scene Break!)_

No sooner had the two left the room did one of the three doors along the wall open, showing a gorgeously tanned girl with flaming red hair.

She was tall – much taller than Louise and only slightly shorter than Minato. Her attractive face was half-covered by her long fringe. Possibly the most distinguishing feature of this girl was her rather generous bust size, emphasized by how the top two buttons of her blouse were undone.

The girl, upon seeing Louise, smiled widely.

"Good morning, Louise."

The petite girl returned the greeting in a less enthusiastic manner.

"Good morning… Kirche."

"So… This is your familiar?" asked Kirche as she stared at Minato appraisingly. "My, he's pretty cute for a commoner... How much did you pay him to show up when you realized that you couldn't summon anything with 'Summon Servant'?"

"For your information, he really did show up when I used the spell, so shut up," snapped Louise. She turned her attention to her familiar, who had been openly staring at Kirche in surprise with his uncovered eye. "What are you gawking at, familiar?"

Minato blinked, then shook his head to clear his thoughts. Of course this wasn't Mitsuru; she was still waiting for him back in his own world. In an attempt to try and salvage first impressions, Minato gave the most charming smile he could muster as he replied.

"Forgive me… I had thought you were someone else. I am Minato Arisato, familiar of Louise. It is a pleasure to meet you." He gracefully made a sweeping bow towards her in imitation of a butler he once saw on TV.

Kirche nodded with a slight blush, before returning her attention to Louise, who was looking a bit pink as well.

"Oh, he's _good_. Are you sureyou didn't just pay him to be a handsome attendant to… _cater_ to your every whim?"

Louise stared at her in disbelief, before replying.

"You can't be serious! Certainly, a Zerbst might stoop as low to… mingle with commoners, but to even _suggest_ that someone of my standing would—"

"_Your _standing? A commoner is perfect for a 'Zero' like you!" Kirche interrupted with a laugh. "In any case, I summoned one too – on my first try, no less. If you're going to have a familiar, it should be a good one, like this: Flame!"

At its master's call, a large dark-red creature slithered out. Upon closer inspection it was revealed to be a lizard almost as big as a tiger, with the tip of its tail alight and its mouth letting out the occasional spark or ember. The wave of heat that hit Minato was by no means strong, but it was amplified through Forneus' natural weakness to fire. He instinctively shielded his face with his arm to protect himself. Kirche laughed at his cautious reaction.

"Ohohoho! You've never seen a fire lizard before?" she winked, before adding, "Don't worry, as long as I order it not to, it won't attack."

"That's a salamander, isn't it?" asked Louise, her voice laced with envy.

"That's right! You can tell from its tail that it's from the Fire Dragon Mountains! Collectors can't even put a price on these!" Kirche affectionately stroked the salamander's head and it crooned in response.

"Must be nice," grounded out Louise.

"Oh, it is. It even perfectly matches my Fire affinity! After all, I _am_ Kirche the Ardent – the ardent of gently smoldering passion. Everywhere I go, I have boys falling for me… Unlike you, right?" she puffed her chest out in triumph. Fuming, Louise hotly retorted,

"I don't have the time to go and flirt with everything that moves,_ unlike you_."

Kirche only smiled in reply. She turned to face Minato and winked at him again.

"So… Minato, was it? Once you're done serving Louise _the Zero _over there, feel free to drop by for a chat. I'm sure that you and I will be _great_ friends."

**...?!**

A shattering noise echoed in Minato's mind. The image of eyes above a flame held by a pair of hands appeared above him as he heard a mysterious voice gently whisper to him.

**_'Thou art I… And I am thou.  
>Thou hast established a new bond…<br>Thou shalt once again have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana…'_**

He had found his third social link.

"Hey!" shouted Louise in indignation.

"Well then, time to be off. Come along, Flame!"

Stroking her long red hair back Kirche strolled away, her familiar trailing after with a shuffling movement and still crooning at her.

… It was actually quite adorable.

_'Right, definitely not Mitsuru,' _thought Minato, _'She would never be **that** bold towards others. Not to mention that she was completely weak to fire.' _Forneus chuckled, before replying,

_'Oh? I would have thought she was rather brazen at times… In fact, she was quite a fiery-tempered one in the hot springs at Kyoto when she exe-'_

_'We are never discussing the Hot Springs incident. **Never.**'_

Minato broke out of his potentially traumatic thoughts to see that Louise was glaring at him.

"… Yes?"

"It's not fair! Why did that girl get a strong looking salamander, while I got a useless love-struck commoner for a familiar?"

"Love-str…" Minato placed a palm to his face. He seemed to be doing that quite often recently. _'Just how long did I stare at this Kirche person?'_

_'Long enough for even our mistress to pick up on it, it seems.'_

"You're just like a stray dog in heat - the moment you saw that idiot Kirche your tail started to wag and you try to flirt with her," she stated coldly.

"I was just trying to be polite," replied Minato stiffly, "Love or attraction had nothing to do with how I had acted."

"Nothing to do with... _You were generating sparkles!_ You expect me to believe that the stupid grin on your face as you introduced yourself to her was out of politeness? Don't make me laugh!" Louise huffed as she crossed her arms. "I still can't believe that a useless _commoner _like you is supposed to be an indication of my true power as a mage..."

Minato's uncovered eye began to twitch. Biting back his first few responses, he eventually settled in saying, "That Kirche person just looks a lot like someone I know back home. It's probably the hair." Shaking his head, he decided to try and move to a safer topic. "By the way, I'm beginning to already see why she calls herself 'The Ardent', but why did she call you 'The Zero'? Does it have to do with your abilities?"

Perhaps it was similar to his status as a Wild Card?

However, almost immediately, he could tell he asked the wrong question. Louise angrily stormed down the corridor.

"… You don't need to know," she snapped. "Hurry up, familiar. I'm going to be late for breakfast."

**...?**

For the second time that morning, a shattering noise resounded in Minato's head. The image of the lightning-struck Tower appeared above him, but began to shift until it was in an upside-down position.

**_'The Social Link has become reversed!_**

**_Until you reconcile, your relationship cannot move forward...'_**

Minato blinked. A Social Link reversal? On the second day, no less? All he did was ask a simple question!

_'... Well, shit.'_

Sighing, Minato had little choice but to hurry after the petite mage.

_(Scene Break!)_

For what she had deemed to be 'inappropriate behavior', Louise had barred Minato from the dining hall.

"To begin with, familiars and lowly commoners aren't even allowed to set foot in the Alviss Dining Hall," she said airily. "I _did_ get permission from the teachers to let you in as a special exception, but if you're going to act like a misbehaving dog, I might as well punish you like one. If you stay here and behave like a good familiar should, I might even reward you with a treat."

With a self-satisfied smirk, Louise turned and made her way to the middle table, where the other black-cloaked students were seated.

Minato shrugged. At the very least, he could use the time wisely and make up in lost sleep. With Forneus unequipped, he casually leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

...

…

….

_« … Familier. »_

Someone appeared to be calling out to Minato. He could already see the possible choice of actions in his mind.

…

Keep sleeping?

**»Yes  
><strong>No

It was still too early in the morning and he was tired, damn it!

_« Réveilles-toi, Familier. »_

The voice was growing louder. And becoming angrier in tone.

…

Keep sleeping?

**»Yes**  
>No<p>

_'You're really just pushing it this time,'_ muttered Thanatos.

_'Indeed,' _Forneus rumbled. _'You really should wake up before the Mistress does something we'll regret later.'_

But his eyelids felt so heavy…

_« Ah, vraiment ! RÈVEILLES-TOI, IMBECILE ! »_

With a start, Minato opened his eyes to see his pink haired summoner glaring at him.

「… Ah. Souda, mada koko ni iru ka…」he yawned. While he shuffled his Persona around to equip Forneus again, Louise momentarily replaced her anger with confusion.

"… Did you say something about a coconut?"

"What?"

"… Nevermind."

_(Scene Break!)_

Having spent several minutes in trying to wake her familiar, Louise was secretly relieved that she had barely made it to the classroom in time. Thanks to the delay, there was no time for her classmates to point and laugh at _the Zero_ and her failure of a familiar (or at least, not out loud). Scanning the room, she found that the only available seating was at the front.

She refrained from commenting when she noticed (to her dismay) that her familiar had seated himself next to her. Ignoring him, she gave her full attention to the kindly plump-faced mage in front of the room.

"Now then, since we're all here, let's begin the class," announced the mage. "I, Chevreuse, am glad to see that the Springtime Familiar Summoning was a great success. Although…"

Louise cast her gaze downward. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see her familiar quietly sighing, almost as tired as she was of all the attention they were getting.

That, or perhaps it really was just drowsiness and he was disguising a yawn.

"My, Miss Vallière… you seem to have summoned quite a… _peculiar_ familiar," remarked Chevreuse. The whole class erupted in laughter.

"Louise the Zero, just because you couldn't summon anything, don't pick up commoners off the street!" one chortled.

Louise bristled in fury.

"Shut up, Malicorne the 'Common Cold'! He's all that came out when I performed the summoning!"

The one named Malicorne stood up in anger. "It's Malicorne the Windward and you know it!"

"Miss Vallière, Mister Grandple! Please, control yourselves!" called out Chevreuse. The middle-aged woman drew her wand and pointed it at them. The two immediately jerked about like puppets, then stiffly sat down.

Minato observed this carefully with his uncovered eye.

"Calling friends names like 'Common Cold' and 'Zero' is unacceptable. Are we clear?"

"But Miss Chevreuse," protested Malicorne, "I might be called the 'Common Cold' as a joke, but it's true for Louise!"

The few giggles that he got from the statement were immediately silenced when their mouths were filled with clay. Chevreuse lowered her wand.

"You people will continue with the lesson in that state," she said lightly. "Now then, let's begin."

With a wave of her wand, a small pile of pebbles appeared on her desk.

"My Runic name is 'Red Clay'. Chevreuse the Red Clay. This year, I will be teaching you all in the basics of the Earth element. Mister Gramont, can you name me the four great elements of magic?" she directed her attention to a blond student, who bowed gracefully as he stood.

"Certainly, Madame Chevreuse. They are Fire, Wind, Water, and of course, most importantly, Earth."

Chevreuse beamed.

"Excellent. And combining the now-lost element of Void, we have five elements in total. I also agree with Mister Gramont's assessment that Earth is important. It has nothing to do with how my elemental affinity is Earth nor is it that I have a personal preference for it."

She coughed heavily.

"Earth is important in that it governs the creation of all matter. We use it to produce and process metals that are used in our daily lives. With no Earth magic, we wouldn't be able to raise buildings out of boulders or harvest crops without putting in more time and effort. Therefore, Earth is intimately tied into everyone's life."

Minato pondered over the explanation with his Persona.

_'The magic in this world is different as well as how they make it work. I suppose my ice magic is close enough to water… But ligh__t__ning is the farthest you can get from earth. I suppose there are physical skills, but that's not the same, is it?'_

_'They also seem to lack classifications for support, almighty, light and dark skills,'_ added Forneus. _'As __«__ Vide__ »__ can mean 'emptiness' or 'lack' of something, it is safe to guess that it equates roughly to our almighty or dark skills.'_

They watched the mage whisper a spell as she twirled her wand over the pebbles. The pebbles shone brightly, before dimming slightly to reveal that they had turned into a single sparkling lump of yellow metal.

"Madame Chevreuse! I-is that… gold?" Kirche asked eagerly.

"It's only plain brass, I'm afraid. Only Square-class mages are able to transmute to gold. I'm only…" Chevreuse gave another cough. "A Triangle mage…"

Minato quietly tapped Louise on the shoulder.

"What?" the pink-haired girl hissed sharply. "If you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a lesson here!"

"What does she mean by squares and triangles?"

"They correspond to the number of elements that can add to a spell. They also determine the rank of a mage. For example, a dot mage would only be able to use one element for a spell; a line mage can use two, and so on."

"So a triangle mage would mean that Madame Chevreuse can use three elements to a spell… What are the elements she used for the transmutation?"

"That would be Earth-Earth-Fire."

"Would I be right in assuming that stacking two of one element would reinforce it?"

"I suppose… I'm honestly impressed that you're managing to keep up with this, familiar," Louise grudgingly admitted.

"I'm pretty good with theory. That, and there's a couple of similarities in the magic system of this world to what I can use," Minato shrugged. In this world's terms, a single Agilao skill would be the same as chaining two fire-elemental Agi skills together. It certainly did explain why the SP usage was doubled.

"I see," she nodded sagely. She froze mid-nod when she fully processed what her familiar just said. "Wait, **WHAT?!**"

"Miss Vallière!" coughed Chevreuse. She indicated to a different pile of pebbles. "Perhaps if you have the time to chatter, you could demonstrate for me your transmutation."

"Eh? M-me?"

"Yes. Feel free to change these pebbles into whatever metal you wish."

Louise stayed rooted to the chair, fidgeting and occasionally darting her eyes to Minato in panic.

"Um… Madame Chevreuse?" said Kirche nervously. "I think it would be better if you didn't let her…"

"And why is that, Miss von Zerbst?" asked Chevreuse.

"It's dangerous," Kirche replied plainly. Many of her fellow classmates nodded.

"Is… Is it the first time that you're teaching Louise, Madame?" the blond boy asked fearfully.

"Well, yes… but I heard that Miss Vallière is a hard worker. Don't worry," smiled Chevreuse. "You won't be able to accomplish anything if you dread making mistakes."

Louise smiled back.

"I'll do it."

Minato felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine as he watched his summoner walk towards the center of the classroom. Each step she took filled him with a greater sense of dread.

"Minato."

Minato turned to where he heard the whisper to see Kirche motioning for him to take cover behind the desk, with most of her fellow classmates trying to retreat to the back of the room as quickly and subtly as possible. Judging from the glare piercing his back, however, Minato knew that there would be dire consequences to face if he listened to Louise's rival.

He decided to compromise and braced himself for the impact, equipping Thanatos for the endurance and magical resistance.

Out of the corner of his uncovered eye, he could see the tanned redhead staring at him with a mixture of pity and admiration.

« Mlle. Vallière, vous devez visualiser fortement dans votre esprit le métal en lequel vous désirez les transmuter, » said Chevreuse.

With a cute little nod, Louise raised her wand and began to chant. She pointed the wand at the pebbles.

The pebbles promptly exploded.

The sheer force of the explosion caused the room to shake wildly, causing some of the familiars to run amok. A manticore had managed to smash through one of the stone walls of the building to escape, with many of the less exotic-looking familiars following through the large hole that was created. Flame, Kirche's familiar, had stirred from his nap and began to breathe fire around his surroundings.

Had Minato been more aware of things, he would have been pleased to note that the salamander had succeeded (albeit accidentally) in setting some of the songbirds from the morning ablaze.

Fortunately, the number of casualties was minor, as the small-scale explosion had only mainly affected the front of the room.

Unfortunately, said casualties included Minato, Louise and Chevreuse.

From the occasional twitches from the plump witch, the latter was probably still alive.

Deeming the area to be safe once again, Kirche slowly approached the front of the classroom and patted Minato on the shoulder in sympathy. Forneus was placed at the forefront of his mind with a 'click'.

"This is why you _never_ let Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière use magic. _Ever. _Her success at casting spells is at zero percent, hence the name."

Minato stared dumbly at Louise, who began to calmly dab at her soot-covered face.

"I guessed I messed up _juuust_ a little," she said cutely.

* * *

><p>The French and Japanese translations:<p>

_« … Familier. » - _Familiar.

_« Réveilles-toi, Familier. »_ - Wake up, Familiar.

_« Ah, vraiment ! RÈVEILLES-TOI, IMBECILE ! » _- Really, now! WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT!

「… Ah. Souda, mada koko ni iru ka…」- Oh. Right, I'm still stuck here, aren't I?

(… I apologize for the terrible pun.)

« Mlle. Vallière, vous devez visualiser fortement dans votre esprit le métal en lequel vous désirez les transmuter. » - Miss Vallière, you have to strongly visualize the metal that you wish to transmute them into.

For those still reading these little notes, I have two questions:

- Is the gratuitous French/Japanese annoying? Now that I've (hopefully) got a system going that can distinguish between the different speaking patterns, I won't need to potentially embarrass myself and butcher a language. But if the majority of you don't mind it…

- How accurate is the French/Japanese? I admit that it's been a while since I last studied French seriously, so my grasp of that language is going to be more than a bit rusty. Feel free to nitpick away!


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